Egg-carrier.



H. ALLEN.

EGG CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED sum 2. 1914.

Patented Sept. 14, 1915.

MYBON H. ALLEN, OF NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY.

EGG-CARRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Se t. id 19155.

Application filed July 2, 1914. Serial No. 848,550.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MYRON H. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Brunswick, in the county of Middlesex and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Egg-Carriers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description' of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention consists in the novel fea tures hereinafter described,reference being had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate oneembodiment in which I have I contemplated embodying my invention, and

' tected from injury during handling and shipment, notwithstanding anyamount of rough treatment to which the carrier may be subjected.

In carrying my invention into efi'ect, I employ an inclosing casing,preferably formed in two parts, each of which is provided with aplurality of egg receiving recesses, the recesses of one of said partsreg istering with those of the other, and forming egg receiving cells,and each of said cells is provided with means for firmly holding theindividual egg contained therein in position and protecting it frominjury.

Referring to the said drawings, Figure 1 represents a bottom plan view,of the top portion or member of my improved egg carrier. Fig. 2 is a topplan View of the bottom portion or member of the same. Fig. 3 is asectional view through the egg carrier, showing it in closed position,the line of section being taken centrally through one row of egg cells,showing the eggs contained therein. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional viewof a single cell, showing the egg held in position therein. Fig. 5 is asectional view showing a slightly modified form of the casing membersand means for securing them together.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, I have shown the easing as comprising two members 1and 2, the upper member being termed for convenience of reference, theupper casing member, and the member 2 being termed the lower or bottomcasing member. These casing members may. be formed of wood or othersuitable material as paper pulp, compressed or molded in the desiredform, or other suitable material,-and each of said members is providedwith a plurality of egg receiving recesses 3, the recesses of one memberregistering with those of the other member when the members are placedtogether, and in order to insure registration, I may provide registeringmeans or interlocking devices, such as dowel pins 4-4 on one'of saidmernbers, engaging apertures 55 in the other as shown herein. Theseinterlocking devices also serve to maintain the easing'members in properrelation with each. other at all times when they are secured together.

- Each of the egg receiving recesses of the members 1 and 2 is providedwith an auxiliary recess 6 of less diameter rece'ss 3 and preferablyformed concentrically therewith as shown. The recesses 6 may be formedby counterboring the members 1 and 2 if they are formed of wood, or byother wise molding or pressing the auxiliary recesses 6 therein, if theyare formed of other material. In each of the recesses 6 is located anelastic annular cushioning device 7, and I prefer to employ for thispurpose a spiral spring, as shown. I also provide in each of therecesses of each member a bottom pad 8, which is preferably formed froma thick piece of felt or other soft material, the central portion ofwhich is engaged by the cushioning device or spring 7, and normally heldthereby away from the bottom of the recess 3. I also prefer to providethe lateral walls of the recess 3 with annular pads 99 which are alsoformed of elastic or soft compress sible material, such as thick felt orother suitable material. The auxiliary recess 6 and the spiral springs7, located therein, are of such diameter that the end portions of theeggs may indent the cushioning pads 8 somewhat into the central portionof the spring or cushioning device so as to conform with the shape ofthe egg, and this has the effect of forming concave yielding cushioningdevices engaging the opposite ends of the egg and thereby holding themfirmly against lateral movement in the cell. The pressure exerted by thesprings or cushioning devices will always be in line with thelongitudinal axis of the egg in which direction the shell isnot at allliable to be injured by any ordinary compression, and as a matter offact, the springs and end pads 8 will hold the eggs so firmly that theywill not ordinarily come in contact with the lateral pads 9 at all, saidlateral pads being provided however out of abundant caution, so as toprevent injury to the eggs in placing the eggs in the cells and removingthem. therefrom, and to provide against injury to the lateral portionsof the eggs in case of such severe handling of the casing as might causethem to move slightly laterally with respect to the end holding means.

In forming the members 1 and 2 of the casing, I prefer to have them ofunequal heights, that is to say, the bottom member 2 is preferably ofgreater vertical thickness than the top member, and the recess 3 in thebottom member is correspondingly of greater depth than those of the topmemcured together in any desired manner.

her, the recess in the bottom member being preferably about twice thedepth as the recess in the top member. This difference in the depths ofthe recesses in the top and bottom members effects two advantageousresults. In packing the eggs into the carrier they are placed in thecell recesses of the lower member 2, and are therefore held insubstantially vertical position so that the upper member can be readilyplaced in engagement therewith. WVhen the eggs are to be removed fromthe carrier it is preferably inverted and the bottom member 2 is liftedoff of the top member and on releasing the compression of the springs,the springs 7 of the casing member 1 will expand, thus raising the eggssuiiiciently out of the shallow recesses so that they can be Veryreadily removed.

The two members of the carrier are sIen the present instance I haveshown the casing members provided with locking devices on oppositesides, the upper members being provided with pivoted bails 10 whichengage projections 11 on the lower member, and these bails may besecured in position by means of a wire and lead seal in any desiredmanner, or by a cord or wire without the seal if desired, and I mayprovide the bails with apertures 12 through which the cord or wire mayextend and be carried entirely around the carrier.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a modification of my invention in which themembers of the ioning means, the recesses 3* being provided with thebottom pads 8 and lateral pads 59*, as in the form of my inventionpreviously described. The members l and 2 may be conveniently providedwith lateral flanges 1 and 2 extending around the same, which not onlygive additional stiffness to the casing members, but afford convenientmeans for securing them together in registration, and the casing membersmay be conveniently secured together by means of spring clips15,.21Si11dl021t6d in Fig. 5, or they may be secured together inotherways. I have contemplated forming these casing members from sheet metaland also from papier mach, and in the latter case, the extreme cheapnessof the device would permit them to be thrown away after they had servedtheir purposes in transporting a plurality of eggs, or the carriers maybe returned to the shipper, as preferred.

In using these egg carriers, they are preferably constructed to containa dozen eggs, but may contain more or less and the eggs are inserted inthe recesses in the bottom member 2 and are thereby held insubstantially vertical position, the upper member 1 is then placed uponthe lower member so as to bring the recesses 3 of the two members inregistration, and the casing members are then pressed firmly togetherand secured, thereby compressing the springs 7 at the pivoted ends ofeach egg, and causing the ends of the egg to indent the felt pads 88into the central portionsof the springs as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and4, thereby firmly holding each individual egg against movement in anydirection between the opposing springs 7, the concave portions of the.

felt pads 8, as before stated, serving to prevent any lateral movementof the eggs in the cells.

My improved carrier will hold eggs of dif- I The auxiliary recesses notonly serve to permit the proper expansion and compression of the springs7, but also maintain them centrally with respect to the cell recessesand with respect to the longitudinal axis of the egg and prevent themfrom becoming twisted and from moving laterally when the ends or sidesof'the casing are subjected to shock or jar.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. An egg carriercontaining separable members provided with oppositely disposed spiralsprings, a vcovering of flexible mathereby for preventing lateralmovement ofthe spring.

2. An egg carrier comprising separable members, each provided with anegg receiving recess, adapted to register with the recess of the othermember, each member being provided with a spiral spring of less diameterthan the said recesses, located concentrically therein and seatedagainst the bottoms of said recesses and projecting slightly out of saidrecesses, and held from lateral movement, a pad of flexible material ineach of said recesses, for engaging an egg, and adapted to be indentedinto the end of the adjacent spring, to hold the egg against lateralmovement, and means for holding said members in assembled relation.

3. An egg carrier comprising separable members provided with registeringegg receiving recesses, each having its inner end provided with aconcentric recess of smaller diameter, coiled springs located in saidsmaller recesses, pads of flexible elastic material located in the eggreceiving recesses, and engaging the adjacent spring, each of said eggreceiving recesses being provided with a lining of flexible elasticmaterial around its lateral walls, and means for holding said memberstogether.

4. An egg carrier comprising separable members, each provided with anegg receiving recess, adapted to register with the recess of the othermember, each member being provided with a spiral spring of less diameterthan the said recesses, located concentrically therein, and held fromlateral movement, a pad of flexible material in each of said recesses,for engaging an egg, and

adapted to be indented into the end of the adjacent spring, to hold theegg against lateral movement, the egg-receiving recesses in one of saidmembers being of greater depth than thosev in the other member tofacilitate the insertion and removal of the 5. An egg carrier comprisingseparable members, each provided with registering re cesses forming eggreceiving cells, each member being provided with an auxiliary recess inthe bottom of each of its cell recesses, and yielding cushioning deviceslocated in the said auxiliary recesses and having egg engaging portions,said cushioning devices engaging opposite ends of the eggs and holdingthem from longitudinal and lateral movement in the cells;

6. An egg carrier comprising separable 'members, each provided withregistering recesses forming egg receiving cells, each member beingprovided with an auxiliary recess in the bottom of each of its cellrecesses, and annular cushioning devices of less diameter than the mainrecesses, located in said auxiliary recesses for holding the eggsagainst longitudinal and lateral movement in said cells.

7. An egg carrier comprising separable members, each provided withregistering recesses forming egg receiving cells, each member beingprovided with an auxiliary recess in the bottom of each of its cellrecesses, and annular cushioning devices of less diameter than the mainrecesses located in said auxiliary recesses and projecting into saidmain recesses, bottom pads of yielding material in said main recessesengaging the ends of said annular cushioning devices, and being adaptedto be indented into the central apertures therein, by the end portionsof the eggs, to hold the eggs against end-wise and lateral movement inthe cells, said auxiliary recesses holding the annular cushioningidevices against lateral movement.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature,

in the presence of two witnesses.

MYRON H. ALLEN. Witnesses:

E. W. WYATT, BERTHA B. APPEL.

